Fun with Big Robots
by OneirosTheWriter
Summary: The new Paladins are now in full production and a new generation of pilots are having to come to grips with stupid droid AI, hungry Grimm, unreliable teammates and worst of all, most frightening of all, having Atlas' finest trainee Hunters for backup! Action, fun, heavy battle mechs, and being chewed out by a certain Schnee girl...


**A/N -** Nothing - Just having some fun here after focusing on my main story for quite some time. People keep giving me story prompts and I was always going to try one out at some point. This is just having some fun with big robots going off to kill a lot of Grimm and bicker with Hunters. Enjoy!

xxxx

"Oh god, we're all going to die."

"Captain, these are only Paladins, you know..."

"But I'm too pretty to end up smeared across the snowfields!"

Garnet shivered as her comrades exploded over the radio at their captain's frightening news. She kept her mouth shut, though. It was her first time out in combat, after all, and her commanders were no fans of backchat at the best of time, let alone from a rookie. Instead she just focused on making sure she was strapped into her crash seat securely and began to go through her start-up checklist. Several previously dark screens began to light up around her, showing a series of green, yellow and red status indicators.

"If you all don't stop whining, I'm going to pass on your appreciation _verbatim_ ," came the voice of the man in charge of this whole misbegotten operation. "And I just _bet_ the fine young students of the Academy will be most hurt by your thoughtless words."

Several long seconds of silence followed.

The sound of a woman clearing her throat crackled over the radio. "Ah... Slipper Actual, this is Blue-Actual, copy that, reinforcements acknowledged, over."

It was the voice of her direct commander, Carmela, a long-serving mech pilot who scared Garnet witless. To hear the tension in Carmela's voice as she very carefully backed down set the hairs on the back of Garnet's neck on end.

Garnet finally couldn't contain herself. "What's so bad about having Hunters along with us?" she asked.

Nervous laughter filled the airways. "Lots, Blue-Four, mostly related to our survivability," replied Carmela.

"Do the words 'collateral damage' mean anything to you?" asked one of her three colleagues in turn in a slow drawl.

"Do the words, 'I'm already on your comms, so _shut up_ ', mean anything to you dolts?" asked a girl's terrifyingly chilly patrician voice.

A little comm-video popped up on one of the displays to Garnet's right. The girl was youthful, but with snow-white hair tied back in two braids that came together. Her blue eyes looked like the heat death of the universe as she glared. Garnet's lips formed a silent 'oh shit'.

Babbling incoherency bounced around the Paladin platoon's intercom.

"Would you all _stop_ that ... noise!" snapped the girl. "As long as you four blockheads stay _out_ of _my_ way, we'll all get along just fine. Winter Schnee out!"

The vid-screen winked out, ushering in a long horrified pause.

"Wow, she was crabby," said Garnet, forgetting she was still in transmit mode.

" _I'm still on the airwaves, dolts!_ "

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" blurted Garnet, before clapping a hand over her mouth.

A distinct 'hmph!' could be heard from the radio and Garnet had to sigh. A Schnee, of all people, and she had to blunder right into the crabby rich girl's bad books. Another hapless sigh escaped her as she continued on her pre-drop sequence. It was a dizzying sequence she was only just getting the hang of. Mighty hydraulic systems had to be activated, coolant pumps started, sensor arrays turned on, buttons upon buttons. For the moment, her massive battle mech was locked into a reinforced cradle that would cushion it on the ill-advised, fit-for-only-the-insane, drop to the surface.

"Alright, it's three minutes to drop, game faces people," said Carmela on the platoon only radio. "Blue, this is Blue-Actual, confirm pre-drop checklist green-light."

The other two Paladin pilots gave affirmatives, but Garnet grimaced as she replied. "Not yet, I ... uh, I mean ... Blue-Actual, this is Blue-Four, almost green, just running through my weapon checks."

Carmela's long-suffering sigh before acknowledging wasn't entirely professional. Nor was the "fucking new girl" that Garnet was _sure_ she heard faintly in the background afterwards. She blushed and quickly spun up the rest of her weapon systems.

"Hunter-Trainee Team, this is Slipper-Romeo," called the radio. "We haven't been supplied your call-sign yet. Please advise."

"We're team Snow, so just use that," said Winter. "We'll be dropping with you guys, so watch where you're walking. Don't think I won't blow your silly robot's legs off if you look like stepping on us."

"Snow-Actual, this is Blue-Actual," said Carmela in an upbeat sing-song voice. "Just don't get yourself jammed in our toe-grips. They are a pain to clean. Over."

"Do you have _any_ idea who I am?" demanded the young trainee.

"Just offering friendly advice. Out."

"Don't you 'out' me!" snapped Winter.

"Should call her Princess instead," said an unfamiliar male voice with a snicker. If there was a reply, it didn't make it to the radio. Whatever she said though, the voice abruptly came back with, "Ow, ow, ow, jeez, alright, sorry. You're crazy, gir- _ow_ , okay!"

"Next person that bugs me gets a Dust Lance through something non-vital," warned Winter darkly. "Next person after _that_ gets one somewhere vital. Alright, Team Snow, get into position."

A subtle clank and tremor ran through the Paladin and Garnet frowned. She brought up an top-mounted camera just to make sure none of the idiot mechanics and dropped a wrench or something on her baby. It took her a moment to make sense of all the pale peach colour she was seeing. In fact she didn't figure it out until the mass of colour shifted further away, and she realised Winter Schnee was perched upon the top of her mech's hull, crouched down at the edge.

"Th-there's a _Schnee_ on my roof," whispered Garnet across the platoon-only net, tensing her shoulders and glancing up. "Guys..."

 _Oh my god,_ thought Garnet to herself. _She's not planning on riding the Paladin all the way down, is she?_ Garnet looked at the snowfields far below and blanched. It was a _long_ way down.

"There's a what?" asked Carmela.

"A Schnee...," whispered Garnet, as if afraid the sound would somehow pass through the hull. "It's that Winter girl." A series of further thumps reverberated through the hull. "They're all on my roof now!"

"Uh, right...," muttered Carmela. "Hang on." Garnet glanced at the comm panel on the right hand side of her cockpit and saw the lights switch around to indicate Carmela was broadcasting on the company net. "Snow-Actual, this is Blue-Actual, please advise your drop-transport situation?"

"Blue-Act... oh, blah-blah-blah," said Winter with a sigh. "No transport, just own landing strategies. We'll just hop a ride down on this Paladin. Better than having to trudge halfway across a snow drift just to meet up with you guys."

"Uh ... copy that..."

"We're Hunter trainees, we'll be fine," said Winter, and Garnet could see her waving dismissively on her cameras. "This is nothing compared to Initiation."

A long-suffering sigh filled the airwaves. Garnet could now see four youngsters perched atop her Paladin, festooned with weapons and wildly eccentric battle dress. For a moment she felt a pang of jealousy. How magical must it be to be in their shoes? Each one a powerhouse of destruction, dedicated to saving the world.

 _Can probably get boyfriends at the drop of a hat_ , thought Garnet with a grimace. _I couldn't get one at the drop of a dress!_

"Blue-Actual, this is Slipper-Actual, look lively, sixty seconds to drop," said their Captain. "Switch to flight deck ops channel and secure comms. Full procedure from here."

Garnet tapped a button to the right of her console and added the operations room of the airship to her Paladin's monitored channel list. This was an actual radio channel rather than the digital comms the Paladins had been using while waiting to deploy, and had a crackling static sound that made it a bit trickier to hear correctly.

"Feather Nest, Feather Nest, this is Blue-Actual, over," she heard Carmela say.

"Blue-Actual, this is Feather Nest, thanks for joining us, we have drop in forty-five," came the crackly voice of whoever it was running the boards in the operations room of the airship _Wings of Atlas_. "Confirm green-light, over."

"Green-light confirmed, over."

"Copy green-light confirmed. Stand by for hatch doors. Break."

Beneath Garnet, she could see the mixed transparent plastic and plate protective hatches began to swing outward, freeing the path below. The abrupt cold must have come as a shock to Team Snow above, because Garnet immediately heard a series of complaints through the hull.

"Blue-Actual, confirm clearance, over."

"Feather Nest, our doors are clear," reported Carmela. Distantly, Carmela could hear warning bells and an intercom announcement from some high muckety-muck on the airship, warning about the drop. "Drop at your discretion, over."

"Stand by for drop in ten seconds, out," said the operator before beginning a complicated announcement to the whole task force that a combat drop was imminent. Garnet paid it no mind, instead biting her lip and trying to calm her suddenly thunderous heart-beat. The whole drop cradle shook around her as hydraulic clamps and locks withdrew.

"Oh, Grimm and Dust, this is it," she muttered. "Just me, twenty tons of metal, and a giant horde of Grimm menacing the Winter Plains. What could go- _Fuck me dead, ahh!_ "

The final clamps withdrew with a snap and Garnet's Paladin was released from the airship into free-fall. All of Remnant opened up around her as tremendous winds whipped across her drop cradle. Already she could see her objective; a dark smear that comprised untold numbers of Grimm, looking like an oil slick across the snowfields.

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" screeched Garnet as massive forces pushed up against her. Her body strained hard against her crash seat restraints. The world was rushing by as she pierced the clouds on her way down. A glance up showed the bulk of the _Wings of Atlas_ hanging above. A glance down showed solid earth rushing up to meet her at terminal velocity.

The Dust-fuelled one-time rockets in the drop cradle fired hard, the deceleration staggering in its impact. Garnet went from nearly leaving her seat to nearly being buried in it. The whole Paladin shook around her violently.

And then with a soft thump it was over and the arms of the drop pod fell away.

Garnet gulped down air greedily, eyes wide and adrenaline pumping as her hands reached for the controls. A glance at the systems display to her left was showing all green marks the way down. A safe landing.

"Blue, this is Blue-Actual, report landings," came Carmela's voice. It was flat and calm, almost as if she _hadn't_ just been strapped into a cramped metal capsule and dropped from the sky.

Garnet had to admit, she admired the woman's nerve. "Blue-Actual, this is Blue-Four, landed, all greens."

"We're all fine as well," came Winter's voice. "Weather is a bit bracing, though."

"Alright, Blue, secure from drop, advance to near-slope of ridge at GR six-five-four-five."

Garnet reached up and pulled two mechanical levers on the top right of her cabin, hearing a satisfying series of clicks and clanks as her Paladin's hydraulic locks were released. The whole hull seemed to _bounce_ for a moment as the suspension kicked in and the limbs began to take her orders. Two handles and two pedals were present, and she slipped her hands and feet onto them. A flex of her right hand saw her Paladin's laser-and-gun-toting right arm sweep in and out. A tap of the pedals saw the whole battle mech take a stride forward.

"Hey, watch it!" blared her radio.

Garnet grimaced. "Snow-Actual, this is Blue-Four, careful about getting in front of this thing, it's hard to see you," she said, trying not to sound too anxious.

"Blue-Four, this is Snow-Actual," said Winter in a violently saccharine voice. "How about you be careful where your big, clumsy mechanical hooves land! Or I'll blast them off!"

"Snow-Actual, this is Slipper-Actual," interrupted the radio. "Threats of violence against Atlas government property will be referred to the Academy headmaster."

"Who's threatening?" asked Winter in a bright and cheery tone.

Movement overhead caught Garnet's attention. Modified Bullheads were flying in towards the ridge-line that lay ahead of them. The aircraft came in to hover over the battlefield and a series of new-model Knights leapt out of the side-doors to land safely on the snow below. As soon as the artificial infantry cleared the doors the Bullheads raced off again, climbing to return to the troopships above.

A quick check of the Paladin's radar grid told her another few Bullheads were depositing actual people a kilometer behind her, most likely support units.

"Blue, this is Blue-Actual," came Carmela's voice again. "Weapons tight, keep an eye out for Nevermore affecting the drop, continue to advance to the ridge."

Garnet heaved a sigh and reached out to tap a button on one of her display panels. A series of blue-gold messages popped up, and a red-fringe surrounded each of her holographic displays. A mechanical voice intruded. 'User warning: AP-290 weapon systems are active.' Garnet nodded to herself. Two energy guns, two kinetic guns, two missile packs, several tracking lasers. On the other side of the ridge ahead was a massive herd of Grimm that needed thinning out before the overran the fertile farmlands that lay beyond the Winter Plains and...

 _Oh, holy shit, I really am about to walk into combat for the first time_ , thought Garnet, and a cold deeper than the snowfields that crunched under her Paladin's armoured feet seized her chest.


End file.
